If you're already working on a thesis, you should go ahead and submit a short abstract to present it at the conference. You should also definitely look into getting your school (maybe the English department, the campus multicultural student services center, or your dean's office) to reimburse you for the travel expenses. I've found most schools are more than willing to do so for undergraduates presenting at or attending national conferences. You'll probably have to provide them with a budget and a brief statement of why you wan to go, but it's worth the hundreds of dollars you could save!

I'd be happy to talk to you more about your project and conference travel. I've taken undergraduates to AAAS in the past, and I hope to take some more students from my new school for next year's conference. Drop me a message anytime at livejournal@pylduck.com. Paul